In electrophotography photoconductive materials are used to form a latent electrostatic charge image that is developable with finely divided colouring material, called toner.
The developed image can then be permanently affixed to the photoconductive recording material, e.g. photoconductive zinc oxide-binder layer, or transferred from the photoconductor layer, e.g. selenium layer, onto a receptor material, e.g. plain paper and fixed thereon. In electrophotographic copying and printing systems with toner transfer to a receptor material the photoconductive recording material is reusable. In order to permit a rapid multiple printing or copying a photoconductor layer has to be used that rapidly looses its charge on photo-exposure and also rapidly regains its insulating state after the exposure to receive again a sufficiently high electrostatic charge for a next image formation. The failure of a material to return completely to its relatively insulating state prior to succeeding charging/imaging steps is commonly known in the art as "fatigue".
The fatigue phenomenon has been used as a guide in the selection of commercially useful photoconductive materials, since the fatigue of the photoconductive layer limits the copying rates achievable.
Another important property which determines whether or not a particular photoconductive material is suited for electrophotographic copying is its photosensitivity that must be high enough for use in copying apparatus operating with a copying light source of fairly low intensity.
Commercial usefulness further requires that the photoconductive layer has a chromatic sensitivity that matches the wavelengths(s) of the light of the light source, e.g. laser or has panchromatic sensitivity when white light is used e.g. to allow the reproduction of all colours in balance.
Intensive efforts have been made to satisfy said requirements, e.g. the spectral sensitivity of selenium has been extended to the longer wavelengths of the visible spectrum by making alloys of selenium, tellurium and arsenic. In fact selenium-based photoconductors remained for a long time the only really useful photoconductors although many organic photoconductors were discovered.
Organic photoconductor layers of which poly(N-vinylcarbazole) layers have been the most useful were less interesting because of lack of speed, insufficient spectral sensitivity and rather large fatigue.
However, the discovery that 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenone (TNF) in poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVCz) formed a charge-transfer complex strongly improving the photosensitivity (ref. U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,237) has opened the way for the use of organic photoconductors in copying machines that could compete with the selenium-based machines.
TNF acts as an electron acceptor whereas PVCz serves as electron donor. Films consisting of said charge transfer complex with TNF:PVCz in 1:1 molar ratio are dark brown, nearly black and exhibit high charge acceptance and low dark decay rates. Overall photosensitivity is comparable to that of amorphous selenium (ref. Schaffert, R. M. IBM J. Res. Develop., 15, 75 (1971).
A further search led to the discovery of phthalocyanine-binder layers, using poly(N-vinylcarbazole) as the binder [ref. Hackett, C. F., J. Chem. Phys., 55, 3178 (1971)]. The phthalocyanine was used in the metal-free X form and according to one embodiment applied in a multilayer structure wherein a thin layer of said phthalocyanine was overcoated with a PVCz layer. Hackett found that photoconductivity was due to field dependent photogeneration of electron-hole pairs in the phthalocyanine and hole injection into the PVCz. The transport of the positive charges, i.e. positive hole conduction proceeded easily in the PVCz layer. From that time on much research has been devoted to developing improved photoconductive systems wherein charge generation and charge transport materials are separate in two contiguous layers (see e.g. U.K. Pat No. 1,577,859). The charge generating layer may be applied underneath or on top of the charge transport layer. For practical reasons, such as less sensitivity to wear and ease of manufacture, the first mentioned arrangement is preferred wherein the charge generating layer is sandwiched between a conductive support and a light transparent charge transport layer (ref. Wolfgang Wiedemann, Organische Photoleiter-Ein Uberblick, II, Chemiker Zeitung, 106. (1982) Nr. 9 p. 315).
In order to form a photoconductive two layer-system with high photosensitivity to the visible light dyes having the property of photo-induced charge generation have been selected. Preference is given to a water-insoluble pigment dye of e.g. one of the following classes:
a) perylimides, e.g. C.I. 71 130 (C.I.=Colour Index) described in DBP 2 237 539,
b) polynuclear quinones, e.g. anthanthrones such as C.I. 59 300 described in DBP 2 237 678,
c) quinacridones, e.g. C.I. 46 500 described in DBP 2 237 679,
d) naphthalene 1,4,5,8-tetracarboxylic acid derived pigments including the perinones, e.g. Orange GR, C.I. 71 105 described in DBP 2 239 923,
e) phthalocyanines and naphthalocyanines, e.g. H.sub.2 -phthalocyanine in X-crystal form (X-H.sub.2 Pc), metal phthalocyanines, e.g. CuPc C.I. 74 160 described in DBP 2 239 924, indium phthalocyanine described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,312, and silicon naphthalocyanines having siloxy groups bonded to the central silicon as described in EP-A 0 243 205.
f) indigo- and thioindigo dyes, e.g. Pigment Red 88, C.I. 73 312 described in DBP 2 237 680,
g) benzothioxanthene-derivatives as described e.g. in DAS 2 355 075,
h) perylene 3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic acid derived pigments including condensation products with o-diamined as described e.g. in DAS 2 314 051,
i) polyazo-pigments including bisazo-, trisazo- and tetrakisazo-pigments, e.g. Chlordiane Blue C.I. 21 180 described in DAS 2 635 887, and bisazopigments described in DOS 2 919 791, DOS 3 026 653 and DOS 3 032 117,
j) squarilium dyes as described e.g. in DAS 2 401 220,
k) polymethine dyes.
l) dyes containing quinazoline groups, e.g. as described in GB-P 1 416 602 according to the following general formula: ##STR2## in which R' and R" are either identical or different and denote hydrogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, alkoxy, halogen, nitro or hydroxyl or together denote a fused aromatic ring system,
m) triarymethane dyes, and n) dyes containing 1,5 diamino-anthraquinone groups.
The charge transporting layer can comprise either a polymeric material or a nonpolymeric material. In the case of nonpolymeric materials the use of such materials with a polymeric binder is generally preferred or required for sufficient mechanical firmness and flexibility. This binder may be "electronically inert" (that is incapable of substantial transport of at least one species of charge carrier) or can be "electronically active" (capable of transport of that species of charge carriers that are neutralized by a uniformly applied electrostatic charge). For example, in the arrangement: conductive support-charge generating layer-charge transport layer, the polarity of electrostatic charging that gives the highest photosensitivity to the arrangement has to be such that negative charging is applied to a hole conducting (p-type) charge transport layer and positive charging is applied to an electron conducting (n-type) charge transport layer.
Since most of the organic pigment dyes of the charge generating layer provide more efficient hole injection than electron injection across a field-lowered barrier at the interface where pigment-dye/charge transport compounds touch each other and possibly form a charge transfer complex there is a need for charge transport materials that have a good positive hole transport capacity for providing an electrophotographic recording system with low fatigue and high photosensitivity.
According to the already mentioned article "Organishe Photoleiter-Ein Uberblick; II of Wolfgang Wiedemann, p. 321, particularly efficient p-type transport compounds can be found in the group consisting of heteroaromatic compounds, hydrazone compounds and triphenylmethane derivatives. Examples of double layer systems containing hydrazone compounds as charge transporting substance are described e.g. in published EP-A 0 295 792, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,150,987, 4,278,747 and 4,365,014.